1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to acoustic drums and electronic percussion instruments, and particularly to drumheads and muting structures for reducing sounds in volume being produced by striking the acoustic drums and electronic percussion instruments.
This application is based on Patent Application No. Hei 11-324361 filed in Japan, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, musicians and players use in practice drums whose drumheads have muting functions. Generally speaking, the drumheads correspond to sheet-shaped skins which are stretched to cover hollow cylinders to provide striking surfaces which are struck with drumsticks. Some of the drumheads having muting functions are designed such that vibration absorption members are arranged in contact with backside surfaces of the drumheads or skins whose surfaces are struck by the players. Due to provision of the vibration absorption members, it is possible to reduce the volume of the percussion sounds.
Another method for muting uses mute covers that cover the striking surfaces of the drumheads.
Further, musicians or engineers develop drumheads exclusively designed for reducing the volume of sounds. That is, mesh-formed skins are used as the drumheads to suppress propagation of vibrations which are caused by striking the surfaces of the drumheads and propagate into the air.
In the case of the drumheads having the aforementioned vibration absorption members in contact with the backside surfaces, the drumheads and vibration absorption members integrally vibrate together to bring great differences in vibration characteristics as compared with normal drumheads of acoustic drums which do not have the vibration absorption members. No problem may be raised when the aforementioned drumheads (namely, vibration-absorbing drumheads) are used to merely expect muting functions thereof. However, players feel a strangeness in playing drums having the vibration-absorbing drumheads because they exhibit great differences in striking actions (and striking feelings) as compared with the normal drumheads of acoustic drums. For this reason, it cannot be said that the drums having the vibration-absorbing drumheads are preferable for the players in practice of music.
In addition, the aforementioned mute covers differ from the normal drumheads in their materials. This results in great differences in striking actions as compared with normal drumheads. So, it cannot be said that the drums using the mute covers are preferable for players in practice of music.
Further, while some muting effects can be obtained using the mesh-formed skins, they provide greater bounces in striking actions of drumsticks as compared with the normal drumheads of the acoustic drums. As a result, the mesh-formed skins of the drumheads result in great differences in striking actions (and striking feelings) as compared with the normal drumheads of the acoustic drums.
It is an object of the invention to provide a drumhead and a muting structure that reduce the volume of sounds produced by striking an acoustic drum or an electronic percussion instrument without deterioration of striking actions and striking feeling for a player.
It is another object of the invention to provide a drumhead and a muting structure that provide desired striking actions in playing an acoustic drum or electronic percussion instrument which approximate the normal striking actions of acoustic drums.
An acoustic drum or an electronic percussion instrument of this invention is constructed by a drumhead corresponding to a punching sheet on which plenty of apertures are formed and a cylinder covered with the drumhead being stretched under tension as well as a muting structure which is realized by a vibration absorption member and a support structure containing L-shaped support members and a support plate. Herein, the support members are detachably attached to an interior periphery of the cylinder to support the support plate, on which the vibration absorption member is mounted and is arranged in contact with a backside surface of the drumhead to absorb vibration of the drumhead whose surface is being struck by a drumstick or else. Using the muting structure, it is possible to actualize mute performance in which drum sounds are being muted by reduction of the vibration of the drumhead propagating into the air.
The muting structure can be modified in a variety of ways. For example, it is possible to form plenty of projections on an upper surface of the vibration absorption member, or it is possible to provide a reinforce member being attached to the backside surface of the drumhead. In addition, it is possible to provide the support structure with a vertical adjustment function by which the vibration absorption member is manually moved in a vertical direction along the interior periphery of the cylinder, so that the vibration absorption member is selectively arranged in contact with the backside surface of the drumhead.
In the case of the electronic percussion instrument, a vibration detection sensor is attached to approximately a center of a lower surface of the support plate to detect vibration of the drumhead, by which electronic sound is to be produced. In addition, it is possible to provide a secondary vibration detection sensor which is attached to the interior periphery of the cylinder to detect its vibration, by which electronic sound is to be produced.